Design For Chart Share Site

Here is my chosen design for Chart Share. I like to experiment when it comes to layout and features of the website and I tend to do this whilst coding, therefore it may look slightly empty now but when I add in JavaScript and other things it will become much more interactive. I have tried to play around with using lots of bright colours and strong textures to make people almost want to touch the web page.

The question mark in the top right corner will have JQuery attached to it which makes it look as if the page is folding over, this will uncover the link to the secret page. This link is aimed at people who bothered to properly look around the site before just trying to download something straight away.

The four boxes at the top will be recommended downloads and will be pictures of certain song or film covers. There will also be a box which appears when you hover over a film name displaying a small synopsis of the film, this is done to make the site even more believable.

I decided to use 'Georgia' as my font, this is to show I am aware of current web trends as it was voted in the November 2010 issue of .net magazine as the 'best font for the web'.

Colour Scheme

Below are the colour schemes I made when deciding which colours to use in the design of my website. I usually do these so I can see how the colours look next to each other and it makes it easier for me to choose which would look best for that particular project. In this case I chose the one on the left as I felt it was a bit more eye catching without being to full on.

Chart Share Logo

The name of my fictional download company is Chart Share. This is a fictional company and therefore I have full creative license over the logo and corporate identity of the business. I decided to incorporate a pause, play, and stop sign in the logo as these are all things which can be applied to films and music. The finished logo can be seen below;

Simulated Client Project

Having been thinking about my simulated client project since we received the brief on Monday, I have decided on how I will approach the project. Rather than create a normal informative website about piracy I wanted to make people aware of the dangers in a more interesting way. I have therefore decided to create a site which is set out like one offering you free downloads of chart films and songs. The website will contain lists of current chat items which have a download link next to them, however, rather than actually downloading a film or song, it will download a pdf file which contains information about the dangers of piracy and illegal downloading.

After reading the assessment criteria for the project I feel I can match each one at a high end with such an idea. I will be able to demonstrate my knowledge of the current industry but applying an interesting design to the website which fits in with the current trend of web 2.0 sites with lots of texture and attention to detail on background images and text. I will also be able to show my knowledge of typography by using different styles in an effective way. I may also be able to incorporate video and sound into the website to make it look more authentic. I may possibly decide to experiment with HTML5 and CSS3 also.

The research I conduct on the dangers of piracy will be easily incorporated into downloaded file and I will also be able to make this look very relevant to the current industry, once again through the use of texture and typography.

Back Again!

I am back hard at work after a nice summer. I have undertaken a few client projects which have been somewhat of a farse and I am now concentrating on my own website which currently looks like this;

I am really happy with the look of the site and it contains some nice functionality which I have developed with thanks to my favourite web design guru, Soh Tanaka, (www.sohtanaka.com) without his tutorials my site would be rather empty.

I also wanted to share with you my new favourite website 'Dribbble', it is described as a 'show and tell for designers in 120,000 pixels or less' and this is exactly what it is. There is some really inspirational work on there and its great to waste time on just looking around!

Second Project

I have done a few designs for the second project which will be a website for my cousins band.

The above image is my favourite of the designs and will feature as the header for the website if I decide to use that design.

I have tried to modernise their look and use lots of grey and black with splashes of colour which highlight particular areas of the site.

This will be the header for several of the pages. I have also decided one of my flash elements will be a full page animated flash linking the user to the different areas of the site.

Brief Two

For the second project I will be using my cousins band as my client. They are a local band called Late of the Pier and are signed to the major record label Parlophone, along with other well known artists such as The Beatles, Coldplay, and Kylie Minogue!

Their current website is very minimal and only consists of a music player which contains all the tracks from their first album. The only other items on the page are links to their MySpace, shop, and the sign-up form for their mailing list.

I personally don't feel the current website does the band justice, and does not fully showcase how innovative and exciting they are. I think this is currently a very important thing for a band as it's the first place potential fans will go when they hear about a band and if they are presented with an extremely minimal website with no news or any real relevant information then it is likely they will leave the website straight away. Therefore I plan to design a website which is exciting and grabs the users attention from the start. I also want it to be interactive and the most important thing for me is that their music is easily accessible.

It is an exciting project for me because it is within the family, yet has the potential to be an international website. If I do a good job it is likely my cousin will decide to swap the website for their current one and this could lead to more work for me.

Check out their music here; http://www.lateofthepier.com/